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Deploying JavaFX Applications

1 What's New

The following list describes the new features in JavaFX 2.2 that affect deployment.

Starting with JRE 7 Update 6, JavaFX Runtime is part of JRE installation

This integration significantly simplifies the process of getting the system ready to run JavaFX applications. No separate installation is needed for JavaFX, and there is no need to write custom code to detect where JavaFX is installed. Moreover, JavaFX Runtime will be autoupdated in the same way as Java Runtime.

There is nothing needed to be changed in the application code but you may need to repackage your application to update your copy of deployment toolkit javascript APIs.

Deployment of JavaFX applications is now supported on Mac and Linux

JavaFX applications are expected to work on Mac and recent Linux distributions, as long as they meet system requirements. No code changes or packaging changes are needed.

However, it is a good idea to repackage the application using the latest version of the packaging tools, to update the built-in launchers plus the copy of the current Deployment Toolkit, to be aware of new supported platforms.

JavaFX applications can be redistributed as self-contained application packages

These platform-specific packages include all application resources and a private copy of Java and JavaFX Runtimes. Distributed as a native installable package, they provide the same installation and launch experience as native applications for that operating system. See Chapter 6, "Self-Contained Application Packaging."

Better support for packaging Swing applications with integrated JavaFX content

Packaging tools are extended to simplify deploying hybrid applications. You now use the same deployment approach as you would for pure JavaFX applications.

The resulting package provides support for the same set of execution modes as a package for a JavaFX application; in other words, the application can be run standalone, using Web Start, embedded into a web page, or distributed as a self-contained application bundle. See Chapter 10, "JavaFX in Swing Applications."